In just a few days, Tennessee football will meet Illinois in the Music City Bowl. Kickoff is scheduled for Dec. 30, 2025, in Nashville at Nissan Stadium at 5:30 p.m. ET on ESPN. Ahead of the bowl game, ESPN’s analytics logged a prediction for the game.
The matchup predictor gives the Vols a 67.2% chance to win the game. This leaves the Illini with just a 32.8% to win.
While he isn’t basing his predictions on analytics, ESPN writer Adam Rittenberg also gave his thoughts on the matchup. He predicted Tennessee to win 37-30.
“There will be plenty of orange in Nissan Stadium, although much of it won’t be cheering for Illinois, which caps a season that began with CFP hopes, was sidetracked sharply with a 53-point loss at Indiana but still ended with wins in three of the final four regular-season contests,” Rittenberg wrote. “Illini quarterback Luke Altmyer started his career in the SEC at Ole Miss and can finish it against an SEC opponent in Tennessee, which pursued him as a transfer target this spring after Nico Iamaleava’s exit to UCLA. The Vols never really recovered from their early loss to Georgia and have much to sort out on defense, which ranks 91st nationally in points allowed. Expect a lot of scoring in this one, but Tennessee prevails behind quarterback Joey Aguilar.”
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The betting line for the game currently sits at 2.5 points in favor of Tennessee. However, that’s a dramatic swing toward Illinois, after the line opened at 6.5 points in favor of the Vols.
Tennessee is already in Nashville as it takes part in bowl practices leading up to the game. On Friday, Josh Heupel gave his thoughts on the matchup while meeting with the media.
“Great to be here in Nashville,” Heupel said. “I want to thank Montgomery Bell for hosting us here. Great practice facility for us during the course of the week. Guys had a great couple days off for Christmas. That’s staff too. Get a chance to be a dad and be with their families and excited to get back here and start competing and get ready for kickoff against a really good Illinois team.”
For Heupel’s full thoughts, you can read what he said here.